Wild Discovery and University of Saint Joseph (USJ) renew the first tourism training initiative in Lebanon co-signed by the private and the academicsector

Within its regional growth and development strategy, Wild Discovery, the travel agency affiliated to Johnny R. Saadé Holdings, renews the third edition of its Sales Training Program in collaboration with the University of Saint Joseph (USJ) aiming at both developing skills of motivated fresh graduates and answering company’s needs for quality and long-term oriented recrutement.

Signature of the protocol took place on Monday 02^nd of February2015 at USJ premises in presence of Mr. Sandro J. Saadé – Wild Discovery CEO, Ms. Mireille Kattar – Wild Discovery HR manager, Mr. Johnny Modawar – Wild Discovery marketing director, Mrs. Christine Babikian Assaf – USJ Dean, Mrs. Rita Zaarour, USJ Head of geographic department, Mrs. Liliane BucciantiBarakat, USJ Head of touristic and cultural divisons.

The Sales Training Program (STP) is the first of its kind program in Lebanon, launched in August 2007,  co-led by both the private and the academics ectors in tourism. The 2015 edition is scheduled to start as of October 13th 2015 and wil linclude new features: This year, STP offers the chance to students to get part or full-time paid training period sat Wild Discovery. In addition to its financial components for students, these trainings also become fully integrated to the academic year to be validated by 3 to 6 credits within the total grade scheme. Trainings willencompass technical, behavioral and functional skills on and off-the-job including job rotations within the different departments of Wild Discovery.

« By renewing this partnership with USJ, Wild Discovery invests in the trainings of fresh graduates to both facilitate their entrance in the professional sector and answer its corporate recrutment needs for quality juniors who look for long-term oriented careers in the tourism sector.

For USJ, « Renewingthe partnershipwith Wild Discoveryis part of the university’sstrategy. It allows both to strengthen interaction of students with the private sector and develop a new model of integration to better understand tourism sector’sneeds in Lebanon ».